British stars ready to perform on home soil at ITU Grand Final this weekend
Alistair Brownlee will be hoping to take top spot in London like he did in Stockholm last month (Photo: ITU/Janos Schmidt)
Just thirteen points separate the top three ranked women as female elites gear up for tomorrow morning’s Grand Final in Hyde Park. Sunday will see the Brownlee brothers go head to head for the men’s world title on Sunday.
Britain’s Non Stanford is currently ranked third in the ITU World Triathlon Series and Jodie Stimpson fourth. Both 24-year-olds have had the best year of their careers to date and after seven ITU World Triathlon Series events all around the world, only thirteen points separate Gwen Jorgensen (USA), Anne Haug (GER) and Stanford.
Originally from Swansea and now training in Leeds, Stanford has established herself in the senior ranks after winning the U23 title last year. She even overcame a broken arm to earn a silver medal in the last round in Stockholm.
Stanford said: “Thankfully [the arm] is completely better now, which is a relief. Going into Stockholm it was quite tough and I was swimming pretty much with one arm.”
She added: “I’m lucky to have a great team around me and the physio team and the coaching team got me through it. Hopefully my swim this weekend will be back to where it was before the accident.”
Jodie Stimpson has used the disappointment of missing out on the London 2012 Olympic Games to inspire a remarkable season. Having never previously won a ITU World Triathlon Series medal, she won the gruelling race to the mountain summit in Kitzbuhel, Austria, and added three further bronze medals.
Stimpson said: “It’s been a magical year. It was meant to be a year for learning but I don’t think it could have been better. London has always been my goal. What you get from racing at home you can’t really get elsewhere. The crowd just lifts you.”
Alistair Brownlee returns to the scene of his Olympic gold medal-winning performance to battle once again with Javier Gomez of Spain and younger brother Jonathan, the silver and bronze medal winners last year.
Alistair currently tops the WTS rankings whilst Jonathan sits in second, just 55 points behind with 1200 available to the winner on Sunday. Javier Gomez is third, and also capable of winning the title.
Alistair Brownlee said: “Any race you go to you want to try and win. It’s fantastic to be back in London where I’ve had some great races… and some bad ones as well. Hopefully it will be a good one this weekend.”
Jonathan Brownlee, the defending world champion, added: “It’s a strange feeling coming back here because last year it was so special and I thought it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s nice to be back because [I've] got great memories here, all those thousands of supporters and hopefully we can experience that again on Sunday.”
Commenting on his preferred race plan, he said: “The ideal race would be a fast swim, like we have done for most of the races in the Series, and then a small group gets away on the bike and it comes down to the run, and everyone else on the run has a bad day apart from me.”
The elite women’s race in Hyde Park starts at 8.30am on Saturday 14 September and is live on the BBC Red Button and will be featured on the BBC1 from 2.30pm.
The men’s race is at 1:30pm on Sunday with TV coverage on BBC2 starting at 1pm. Both events are free to view for spectators in Hyde Park.
Great Britain elite team
Katie Hewison, 28, Chorley/Aldershot
Vicky Holland, 27, Gloucester / Swansea
Natalie Milne, 24, Kinross
Emma Pallant, 24, Aldershot
Vanessa Raw, 28, Durham / London
Non Stanford, 24, Swansea / Leeds
Jodie Stimpson, 24, Birmingham
Adam Bowden, 31, Watford / Loughborough
Alistair Brownlee, 25, Leeds
Jonathan Brownlee, 23, Leeds
Mark Buckingham, 28, Holmfirth / Leeds
Aaron Harris, 25, Bideford, Hants / Loughborough
David McNamee, 25, Irvine / Leeds
Matt Sharp, 24, Enfield / Loughborough
Phil Wolfe, 25, Walsall